SHOPLIFTING BRINGS 15 MONTH JAIL SENTENCE

A 26-year old Chadron man has been sentenced to 15 months in the Dawes County Jail for shoplifting over $1,200 in items from the local Wal-Mart this summer.

Dale Yellow Horse had entered guilty please last month to reduced charges of theft by shoplifting and attempted theft by shoplifting for the July 27 incident involving sunglasses and stereo equipment.

The incident occurred just 4 months after Yellow Horse had been released from a prison term for plugging up the plumbing in his county jail cell in October 2011, causing more than $10,000 damage to offices on the lower floors of the courthouse.

That incident occurred when Yellow Horse, who was serving a sentence on bad check charges, became upset after an altercation between two other inmates forced him to change cells for a time.

Both the prosecution and defense opposed probation on the shoplifting charge because of his lengthy criminal record, but deputy Public Defender Jon Worthman did ask for a sentence of time served…107 days.

District Judge Travis O’Gorman quickly rejected the request, telling Yellow Horse that his criminal record was “alarming,” that he had no regard for the property of others, and that he showed “zero remorse” for his actions.

Instead, O’Gorman gave Yellow Horse one year on the theft charge and 3 months on the attempted theft count and ordered them served consecutively…with credit for the 107 days.